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Pharmagen Healthcare Limited

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Pharmagen Healthcare Limited

Providing access to affordable and safe drinking water for the urban poor in Pakistan.

Sector

Water, Sanitation & Waste Management

Region of Initiative

Asia & Pacific

SDG contribution

SDG 3: Good health and well-being, SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation

Pharmagen Healthcare Limited has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a pledge to provide 112,000 urban poor people in Pakistan with affordable purified drinking water each day by 2020 – reducing the incidence of water-borne diseases among the country’s most vulnerable populations.

The 10 million people living in the city of Lahore alone consume an estimated 16 million litres of untreated water each day. Much of this water contains high levels of chemical and microbial contamination. According to a United Nations survey, 62 percent of Pakistan’s urban dwellers lack properly treated water, and this problem is particularly acute in poor neighborhoods.

Pharmagen Healthcare Limited has stepped in to provide clean, affordable and accessible drinking water to Lahore’s most vulnerable communities. Its inclusive business model involves establishing franchise-based water kiosks run by local micro-entrepreneurs. Each kiosk extracts water from underground, purifies it through a reverse osmosis plant and re-mineralizes it, yielding water quality to World Health Organization standards. This network of kiosks not only meets residents’ demand for healthy clean water, but is building a sustainable supply chain that encourages entrepreneurship and improves local livelihoods.